Keeping their promise, Verizon has started pushing the official Android 4.1 Jelly Bean update for the DROID Bionic to members of the Motorola Soak Test program, and as always, it has now been made available for everyone wishing to jump on the Jelly Bean bandwagon without waiting any longer.

The update brings all the usual goodies that we love in Jelly Bean – smoother and more responsive interface with “Project Butter,” Google Now for information before you even ask for it, improved keyboard with smarter predictions and offline voice typing, expandable and actionable notifications, ability to resize and rearrange widgets and shortcuts automatically, general performance improvements, and other small yet useful changes.

You’ll find the step-by-step instructions for installing the update on your DROID Bionic down below. The update comes in at around 320MB and will update your device to Android 4.1.2, and you can pretty much consider that the last major update the Bionic will get.

Continue reading to find out how you can manually update to Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean on the DROID Bionic.

Compatibility

This firmware and the guide below are compatible only and only with the Motorola DROID BIONIC, model number XT875. Do not try it on any other device.

Warning!

The methods and procedures discussed here are considered risky, so try them out at your own risk, and make sure to read each step carefully before attempting anything. We will not be held responsible if anything goes wrong.

Requirements:

  1. You need to have a microSD card on your phone in order to install the update, as the update can’t be manually installed from the internal storage.
  2. Your phone must be on the official Android 4.0 firmware with system version 6.7.246 – also, the ROM should be 100% stock and unmodified, though it’s okay if it has been rooted. Confirm the system version in the Settings » About phone menu on the phone.
  3. Make sure your phone’s battery is adequately charged – a minimum of 50% is recommended.

How to Update DROID Bionic to Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean

  1. Download the update file.
    Download Link | Filename: Blur_Version.6.7.246.XT875.Verizon.en.US.zip
  2. If your phone is rooted, perform the following steps before moving on to step 3:
    1. Download OTA RootKeeper from the Play Store. .
    2. Launch OTA RootKeeper on your phone and backup your Root status by clicking the Protect Root button.
    3. Then, click the Temp Unroot option in OTA Rootkeeper to remove root before you flash the update. Close OTA RootKeeper.
  3. Copy the update file to the microSD card (don’t put it inside a folder, copy it directly to the outermost part of the storage) on your phone. Don’t extract the file.
  4. Switch off your phone (also disconnect it from the PC if it is connected).
  5. Boot into stock recovery. To do that, turn the phone off. Then turn it on while pressing and holding down both the Volume Up + Volume Down buttons till the boot selection menu shows up. Here, scroll down to highlight the Recovery option using the volume down button, then select it using the volume up button. You should now see a green Android with a triangle on the screen; here, press both volume up and volume down buttons together to boot phone into recovery.
    • In recovery, use the volume buttons to navigate and the power button to select options.
  6. Now select “install/apply update from external sdcard/storage”. Scroll to the update file (Blur_Version.6.7.246.XT875.Verizon.en.US.zip) you transferred to the phone and select it. The update will now start installing.
  7. This is a full OS upgrade and will take approximately 8 minutes. So be patient and do not panic.
  8. Your phone may reboot a couple of times during the entire upgrade process, and finally it should boot back up on its own into the wonderful world of Jelly Bean Android 4.1.2.
  9. [Restore Root] If you were rooted before installing the update but temporarily un-rooted according to step 3, then simply open the OTA RootKeeper app and click on the Restore Root button to restore root access. Of course, you can skip this step if you do not wish to restore root access at this time.

Your DROID Bionic should now be running on Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean. Enjoy all the new stuff the update brings, and if you run into any issues, give us a shout in the comments and we’ll help you out.